With the rise of Christian nationalist ideology influencing American politics, increasingly hostile rhetoric contributes to the creation of a dangerous environment for minority religions.
The entrenched deep state, with Donald J Trump at the helm, is waging war on the American people unlike almost any puppet president of the duopoly before him. Constitutional violations abound, with brazen disregard for due process of law, checks and balances on the executive branch, and increasingly dangerous rhetoric targeted towards everyday Americans, just to start.
It’s no secret for anyone paying attention that this administration has a disdain for a large section of the American people. The president himself refers to portions of his own countrymen as “the enemy within”. We are constantly seeing escalations of divide and conquer rhetoric among the ruling class and their most adherent sycophants. And while, in recent years, much of the attention has been torn between the manufactured outrage of distraction psyops and the overarching agenda of implementing technocracy, one aspect of societal contention has become increasingly volatile.
There’s been no shortage of Christian nationalist influence to inflame the current administration: from claims that “God saved Trump” during the false flag assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, to rallies in the nation’s capital, behind-the-scenes groups such as Ziklag, and the Heritage Foundation — infamous for their Project 2025, an outline to radically reshape the American government under a far-right agenda — it is clearly evident that Christian nationalism is seeping into the mainstream of American right-wing politics. Bringing with it real concerns of those of non-Christian faiths.
To be abundantly clear, the United States is not—and has never been—a “Christian nation.” Rather, it is a nation where one is free to be a Christian or follow any other religious persuasion. The views of the Founding Fathers expressly clarified that any attempt at a theocratic rule of government was antithetical to the founding principles of our nation. Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most vocal, contended unequivocally that absolute religious freedom was a necessity essential for a functioning republic.
James Madison, too—author of the United States Constitution as well as the Constitution of Virginia—was equally as staunch an advocate of religious liberty as Jefferson, understanding this principle to be a basic, fundamental human right to be enshrined in the highest law of the nation. (Note the previous link authored by the Heritage Foundation, circa 2001—an irony that shouldn’t go without mention, considering the foundation’s current hostilities against the very liberties they once promoted.)
All in all, a pluralistic, religiously diverse nation where all peoples are free to believe in whatever they wish so long as they do not hamper or harm the freedom of belief of others is one of the core principles our country was founded upon, and that principle is continuously under threat by those who wish to reimagine history to fit their own authoritarian inclinations.
The Trump administration has already taken steps to implement theocratic policies that threaten the religious liberty of Americans by attempting to impose a Christian nationalist identity. The president’s “Religious Liberty Commission” functions as an institution of Orwellian doublespeak, using the supposed cause of religious liberty as cover to inflict the opposite—attempting to force a singular religious ideology on American school systems, end the separation of church and state, and blatantly discriminate against those of other faiths.
The administration has already begun enforcing such policies. During a gathering of 800 of America’s top admirals and generals, held alongside President Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth—an unapologetic Christian nationalist and follower of controversial pastor Doug Wilson, who openly advocates for an American theocracy governed by Old Testament law—publicly railed against religious toleration in the military. He stated that, under their leadership, the U.S. military will begin revoking religious accommodations for certain groups, specifically targeting “Nordic pagans.”
While this ideology is seeping into the mainstream of politics, it is also gaining widespread notoriety among conservatives in general. A recently published book titled The Pagan Threat: Confronting America’s Godless Uprising by Pastor Lucas Miles is just the latest in a series of increasingly hostile rhetoric openly targeting people of non–Judeo-Christian faiths, dehumanizing them by labeling them as parasites and characterizing them as enemies to be vanquished. The book has quickly gained popularity among many on the evangelical right, in no small part due to the forward of the book being written by the recently assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
For those who may be unfamiliar with its meaning, paganism is a broad umbrella term used to refer to various spiritual traditions and practices that fall outside the scope of the Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These traditions include Heathenry, which honors the Germanic gods; Hellenism, which worships the ancient Greek pantheon; Religio Romana, which follows the beliefs of ancient Rome; Celtic polytheism and Druidry; Rodnovery, also known as Slavic polytheism; Romuva, the Baltic polytheistic tradition; Kemetism, which reconstructs the beliefs of ancient Egypt; and Wicca, a modern neo-pagan belief system developed in the 1940s that draws on a mixture of Celtic and Nordic folk traditions. Eclectic paganism is another variation wherein practitioners blend rituals, beliefs, and deities from multiple traditions and philosophies into their own personalized spiritual path.
The etymological origin of the word pagan is found in the Latin root paganus, meaning “country dweller,” which was used to refer to non-Christians following the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. In its contemporary usage—particularly by those who use the word derisively—it is often applied broadly to refer to (and in some instances mischaracterize) anyone of non–Judeo-Christian belief. This includes Muslims, pantheists such as followers of Hinduism and other Eastern religions, practitioners of shamanism and indigenous American traditions, as well as those involved in witchcraft or even Satanism.
Pastor Miles propagates the notion that paganism is not just a belief system but an organized conspiracy threatening both church and state. As the pagan news blog The Wild Hunt points out in its critique of the book —
From its opening pages, the book makes clear that Miles is not simply diagnosing a cultural trend but urging a zero-sum struggle against living people and communities. For dogmatic Christian readers who prize scriptural certainties over historical realities, such clarity may be compelling; for most others, of any faith, it is rhetorical violence masquerading as religious concern and analysis.
A harder truth also emerges in the book’s pages: political identity offers no protection.
Conservative, liberal, libertarian, or apolitical readers may differ in diagnosis or remedy, but none are shielded when a religious practice is cast as an existential threat that must be erased from society.
That is why Miles’s language matters beyond argumentation. When critique becomes categorical demonization, labeling entire communities as conspirators, parasites, or enemies of state and church, the effect is not abstract debate but real-world danger: heightened stigma, threats to pluralism, harassment of public institutions, and the possibility of violence.
For Pagans, the message is unmistakable. The Pagan Threat does not debate ideas in the abstract; it names our traditions, our practices, and our communities as enemies of faith and nation. It frames neighbors as parasites, cultural saboteurs, and infiltrators. That rhetoric carries real danger, not only in how outsiders view Paganism, but in how institutions are pressured to treat us.
Admittedly, and for transparency’s sake, it must be stated that this subject matter is one I am particularly passionate about. I write this in my capacity as the editor of The Free Thought Project, as an ardent voluntaryist, and as a man who has made a career out of promoting and defending individual liberty—including for those I disagree with—rejecting the false left-versus-right paradigm, and always choosing principles over politics. I also write as a devout adherent of Heathenry, otherwise known as Germanic polytheism, more commonly referred to as “Norse paganism.”
I believe in the Gods of my ancestors of ancient Germania—an indigenous European faith that spanned much of modern-day continental Europe and Scandinavia. Gods like Odin, Thor, Freyr, Freyja, Njordr, Tyr, and the rest of our vibrant pantheon, along with a wide host of other spirits and heroes, are revered by me just as vehemently as any Christian believes in their Jesus. The primary difference is that, whereas Christians believe in their mythology literally, we recognize our mythology as symbolic and animistic—viewing our Gods not as entities separate from the natural world, but as deities that exist within it as manifestations of the natural forces within it, as well as within ourselves.
It is the strength of my faith that energizes my work to promote truth and liberty for all people. It is Odin, in his capacity as the force of divine inspiration and wisdom that drives me. It is Thor, the guardian of mankind, whom gives me the strength to advocate for and protect the principles I hold most dear. It is Freyja, the divine mother goddess, who impassions my heart to seek and lead with love above all else. It is her twin brother Yngvi-Freyr, the peaceful king of fertility and prosperity, to whom I dedicate my advocacy for nonviolent solutions and antiwar activism. And the honorable Tyr in whose name I pursue justice for the victims of systemic oppression and abuse.
The aim of this article is not to condemn Christianity outright, in fact the intention is quite the opposite. To highlight how sections of the faith are hijacked and corrupted by the travesties of politics and government. How, for many, the state has become God, and their view of scripture has been warped and twisted to fit that perspective.
This false perspective includes the myth of Christian persecution in America—an idea suggesting widespread discrimination against Christians in the United States, often exaggerating isolated incidents or cultural shifts. It’s a narrative most of us are likely familiar with: the assertion that “you can’t be Christian in America anymore.” A claim which is, quite frankly, utter nonsense—but one that Christian nationalists and the Trump administration alike have clung to. Perhaps most notably, this narrative has been reinforced by the recent passage of Trump’s national security directive, NSPM-7, which labels any opposition to the administration’s agenda as a potential indicator of terrorism—opposition that includes so-called anti-Christian views.
There is no widespread persecution of Christians in America, a fact that is perhaps best elaborated by Rev. Chase Peeples of the Park Hill Christian Church in his article The Myth Of Persecuted American Christians, wherein he highlights the self-righteousness and martyrdom complex of those on the evangelical right. Reverend Peeples accurately points out that what is often characterized as “persecution” is in reality simply a refusal to allow one group to force others to adhere to their beliefs. In the context of “pagan customs”, much of what is framed as being “anti-Christian” is simply other faiths attempting to exist freely, asking to be treated with dignity, and allowed to exist in peace.
As Reverend Peeples states:
When a religious movement is a small minority, they experience persecution, but when they are the overwhelming majority, they more often become the ones carrying out persecution. The latter is certainly the case in America today.
Indeed, in recent years it is those of pagan faiths who have experienced the most direct reprisals simply on the basis of having a different religion.
Just last Sunday, September 28th, a Chicago evangelical church lead a demonstration to disrupt the annual Chicagoland Pagan Pride festival, condemning, harassing, and proselytizing the participants for freely exercising their faith. Sadly, incidents like these are not rare.
In mid-September, Ohio’s Dayton Pagan Coalition came under harassment in the lead up to their annual Pagan Fest by members of the local Christian Radio Show group disgruntled that they would have to share the fairgrounds on the same day as the group’s Chocolate Fest.
Earlier in the month the owner of a Pagan and witchcraft shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana was brutally attacked in a religiously motivated hate crime.
In March, two metaphysical shops in Orlando, Florida were once again the targets of coordinated harassment by local evangelical groups.
In February, The Market at the Mill in Pickens, South Carolina, was the scene of an altercation when members of the Stillwater Christian Fellowship stormed the venue, targeting Pagan vendors with death threats and citing Exodus 22:18 (“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”) as justification.
In December 2024, the Appalachian Pagan Ministry of Parkersburg, West Virginia, well known in the area for their community outreach and volunteer work, was the target of religious discrimination by the city of Parkersburg which refused them entry to the town’s holiday parade on the basis of their beliefs.
In October of last year while the area of Asheville, North Carolina, was in the midst of recovery in the devastation of hurricane Helene, reports surfaced that Christian groups offering aid to flood victims were withholding assistance from some members of the community based on their faith.
In August 2024, Christian groups raged against the erection of a statue of the Hindu God Hanuman on the grounds of a Hindu temple in Texas, visible from the temple’s open air courtyard.
In July of 2024 — the same month that hysteria and manufactured outrage dominated the discourse in the wake of the Olympics opening ceremony which celebrated the Hellenistic Pagan heritage of the Olympic Games — a Pagan bookstore located in Portland, Oregon was the victim of an arson attack.
In April of that year a man was arrested for attempting to detonate a pipe bomb at the headquarters of The Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts.
This myriad of examples are but a few of the numerous acts of repression faced by Pagan communities throughout the United States on a regular basis. Notably, the same cannot be said the other way around. Hardly nowhere do you ever see or hear of organized groups of any Pagan faith launching coordinated campaigns of harassment and reprisal against churches or Christian faith organizations.
Incidents such as these are undoubtedly something most people are unaware of—not only due to the deliberate lack of coverage from mainstream media, but also because it is often human nature to be blind to, or ignorant of, that which does not directly affect us. In psychology, this is referred to as in-group bias: the tendency for individuals to favor and prioritize the needs, perspectives, and experiences of their own social group over those of others. This can often lead to a phenomenon known as insular myopia, where people’s perceptions—shaped by their own in-group bias—make it difficult to recognize or empathize with those outside of their own social grouping.
While the United States is not a Christian nation in the sense of a theocracy, it is still undeniably a nation where the vast majority of people identify as Christian. As such, when the systems and institutions of a society are built by a particular majority—in the case of the United States: heterosexual, white, Christian males—they are naturally shaped to favor that majority. This is institutionalized privilege, which is why those outside of that majority are, by default, treated differently, often harshly. It’s also why efforts to push back against this institutionalized inequality are frequently mischaracterized as attacks against the norm, when in reality, they are simply efforts to be treated fairly and to exist in equal standing.
In the religious context this is the reality for pagans in America.
Pagan culture has arguably been the biggest victim of propaganda of the last 2,000 years. 2,000 years of literal demonization to condemn and vilify the indigenous practices of countless groups of people under the yoke of empires and monarchies. We are not evil, we do not worship the devil, we don’t even believe in him. Our beliefs incorporate the veneration of nature, with ethics of honor, respect, hospitality, family and community. The pre-Christian peoples were not savages. Their societies and civilizations, like that of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and Rome, and Mesopotamia are what built the world.
Each different pagan practice comes from a beautiful culture with a rich tapestry of mythology, practices, and traditions that stretch back thousands of years. Our beliefs connect us to our ancestors, the homeland of our peoples, the belonging to our tribe with an unparalleled deep sense of connection to their heritage and customs that existed long before foreign beliefs came in under the marching boots of invaders and uprooted it.
Today, we pagans do not demand a world where Christianity does not exist. While there may be disagreements and debate over doctrine, pagans do not seek the destruction of those different than us. We seek a society of inclusion and pluralism. The ability to coexist with our fellow human beings where everyone is free to believe and practice however they wish where no one group forces their standards on another. We are here to stay. Like it or not, paganism is on the rise world wide as people rediscover their culture and return to the traditions of their ancestors. We have a right just as much as anyone else to freely and openly practice our faith. Religious liberty is one of the most essential freedoms for the founding of our nation, and as pagans we simply wish for the freedom to be left alone.